Dubya minds his pees ... and queues
David Nason, Comment. September 16, 2005
OVER the years George W. Bush has forged a pretty impressive reputation for getting himself tongue-twisted.The US President once remarked that "border relations between Canada and Mexico have never been better" and said the trick to economic policy was "making the pie higher".
There was also his sharp observation on trade: "More and more of our imports are coming from overseas."
And some old-fashioned wisdom on education: "You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test."
To be fair, Bush admits he has a problem when turning thoughts into words.
But when it's serious -- as it was at the opening session of the UN world leaders summit in New York -- the President can get straight to the point, as this private note (pictured) penned for Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice indicates.
Rice has a reputation for unflappable elegance, but this was a pressure situation.
Toughing it out with the Israelis and Palestinians is one thing, but how's a girl from Birmingham, Alabama, supposed to find the gents at the UN Security Council?
And what about that question mark? Did the President really need to go, or wasn't he sure yet?
Eventually the crisis passed, and maybe it became a topic of conversation when Bush later bumped into his old Australian buddy, John Howard.
GWB: "I tell you John, I was absolutely bustin' but some pissant kept goin' on and on and I couldn't get outta there."
JWH: "Gee, George, you're so funny."
GWB: "Yeah, I know. Hey, did I ever tell you about how big things are in Texas?"
Of course, Howard had his own problems yesterday, forced to endure the smirking British Prime Minister Tony Blair at a summit roundtable where discussion of the recently concluded Ashes cricket series took precedence over world peace.
"He (Blair) didn't give me any stick -- he just sort of accepted my congratulations," Howard said afterwards.
"Just about every prime minister from a cricket-playing nation had something to say about it," he confessed. "It was the principal word of discussion."
Howard also revealed that Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf had promised that his national team would avenge Australia in a coming series.
It would perhaps be better if Musharraf instead came through with the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden.
-The Australian
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16619614^2703,00.html
Ahhhh this kind of amused me today, had a nice little chuckle.
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